Page 114 of Galen
Demons surrounded Asa as Galen charged toward him, but none of them stood a chance. I watched in horror as he grabbed one demon and ripped its body in two with his bare hands. Three more jumped in his way, and he killed them just as easily. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like Galen’s eyes were black; not even the whites of them showed.
Asa flicked his hand like he’d done earlier, but it barely moved Galen as he tore through the demons blocking his way. The king’s eyes reflected his sudden unease.
“You’re not powerful enough to fight him yet,” Belphegor said, grabbing Asa’s hand. “We need to leave.”
“How dare you say those words to me.” Asa’s nostrils flared as he yanked his hand away. “Do you think me a coward? I fear no one.”
Phoenix materialized beside Asa, his body swaying a bit. “Please… my king.”
More demons began to flee, some vanishing into thin air while others ran in the opposite direction. Galen terrified them. It was hard to wrap my head around it. The Galen I had kissed, laughed with, was not the same man in front of me.
“Every single second of every day, I battle against the beast inside me.”
My eyes watered as I recalled Galen’s words. This was what he’d meant.
“Holy fucking shit,” Maybe-Kyo said from beside me. “Is that really Galen?”
“No,” Alastair answered, breathing heavy. He looked like he was about to collapse. “That’s Wrath.”
Raiden tightened his hold on me as I tried stepping forward again. Castor came to stand in front of me, and Daman stood beside him. Bellamy joined them next, then Kyo. They were creating a protective wall. The fighting pit was behind us, so enemies only came from one direction.
Did they consider Galen an enemy now too?
“This isn’t over,” Asa said, glaring over at us. His strength had visibly weakened even more. “We’ll meet again soon.”
Phoenix put one hand on Belphegor and the other on the new king before the three of them disappeared. The rest of the demons fled too until it was only us in the field. We had won.
Too bad it didn’t feel like it.
“Get to the portal,” Alastair told Raiden.
“What about Galen?” I asked, thrashing around as I tried to break Raiden’s hold on me. “We’re not leaving him behind.”
“I don’t intend to,” he responded. “I’m going to do all I can to reach him.”
“And if you can’t?” I asked. The sadness in Alastair’s eyes stopped me cold. My already blurry vision blurred even more as tears welled in my eyes. “Answer me!”
When Galen reached the warriors in front of me, he stopped his charge, but his fists didn’t unclench. His head twitched, as did his massive body. It looked like he was fighting with himself. But the anger won that fight. He threw Castor aside and then roared as Bellamy and Daman jumped on top of him, trying to hold him down. That only riled him up even more.
It was as though he didn’t realize who they were. His instinct was to fight. To kill.
“Take him away, Raiden,” Alastair calmly said before turning to face Galen, drawing his sword with a shaking hand.
He was going to kill Galen if he couldn’t bring him back.
“No!” I slapped at Raiden’s beefy arm as we started to lift into the air. “Galen! Snap out of it! You’re stronger than Wrath. I know you are!”
At my voice, Galen glanced up.
“Your presence calms the beast inside my veins,”he had once told me.
“Let me down.”
“No,” Raiden answered.
“Please,” I begged, not taking my eyes off Galen. He hadn’t taken his off me either.
Alastair frowned at Galen, then peered up at us hovering in the air. “Do as he says.”
